Swimmer drowns off New Jersey coast

September 8, 2008 10:03:39 AM PDT

Eyewitness News

SPRING LAKE --

A swimmer from Highlands drowned in strong rip currents off Spring Lake, prompting an all-night search for a possible second person missing in the ocean.Authorities say 38-year-old Luke Walsh was lost in the rough surf off of Newark Avenue beach just before 5 p.m. Sunday.

Officials say his lifeless body was pulled from the rip current, and he was rushed to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, where he was pronounced dead.

Witnesses reported seeing another man in the rough rip, leading to the search.

Some 50 lifeguards formed a search line, while the Coast Guard had two boats and a helicopter participate in the search. Authorities finally concluded that there was no second victim.

Rip currents from the remnants of Hurricane Hanna were still causing trouble at the Jersey Shore and the storm whipped up waves as high as 10 feet on Monday.